Recent Medline Abstracts on Acupuncture

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Koo ST, Lim KS, Chung K, Ju H, Chung JM. Electroacupuncture-induced

analgesia in a rat model of ankle sprain pain is mediated by spinal alpha-

adrenoceptors. Pain. 2007 May 28; [Epub ahead of print]. Department of

Medical Research, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic

of Korea. In a previous study, we showed that electroacupuncture (EA)

applied to acupoint SI06 on the contralateral forelimb produces long-lasting

and powerful analgesia in pain caused by ankle sprain in a rat model. To

investigate the underlying mechanism of EA analgesia, the present study

tested the effects of various antagonists on known endogenous analgesic

systems in this model. Ankle sprain was induced in anesthetized rats by

overextending their right ankle with repeated forceful plantar flexion and

inversion of the foot. When rats developed pain behaviors (a reduction in

weight-bearing of the affected hind limb), EA was applied to acupoint SI06

on the contralateral forelimb for 30min under halothane anesthesia. EA

significantly improved the weight-bearing capacity of the affected hind limb

for 2h, suggesting an analgesic effect. The alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist

phentolamine (2mg/kg, i.p. or 30mug, i.t.) completely blocked the EA-

induced analgesia, whereas naloxone (1mg/kg, i.p.) failed to block the

effect. These results suggest that EA-induced analgesia is mediated by

alpha-adrenoceptor mechanisms. Further experiments showed that

intrathecal administration of yohimbine, an alpha(2)-adrenergic antagonist,

reduced the EA-induced analgesia in a dose-dependent manner, whereas

terazosin, an alpha(1)-adrenergic antagonist, did not produce any effect.

These data suggest that the analgesic effect of EA in ankle sprain pain is, at

least in part, mediated by spinal alpha(2)-adrenoceptor mechanisms. PMID:

17537577 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

 

Pearson S, Colbert AP, McNames J, Baumgartner M, Hammerschlag R.

Electrical skin impedance at acupuncture points. J Altern Complement Med.

2007 May;13(4):409-18. Biomedical Signal Processing Laboratory, Portland

State University, Portland, OR. Objectives: To test whether electrical skin

impedance at each of three acupuncture points (APs) is significantly lower

than at nearby sites on the meridian (MP) and off the meridian (NP). Design:

Two instruments-Prognos (MedPrevent GmbH, Waldershof, Germany), a

constant-current (DC) device, and PT Probe (designed for this study), a 100-

Hz sinusoidal-current (AC) device-were used to record electrical impedance

at three APs (right Gallbladder 14, right Pericardium 8, and left Triple

Energizer 1), and two control sites for each AP. Each AP, MP, and NP was

measured four times in random order with each device. Setting: The study

was conducted over a period of 4 days at the Oregon College of Oriental

Medicine (OCOM). Subjects: Twenty (20) healthy adults (14 women and 6

men), all recruited from the OCOM student body and faculty, participated in

the study. Results: The Prognos measurements had an intraclass

correlation (ICC) = 0.84 and coefficient of variation (CV) = 0.43. The PT

Probe had ICC = 0.81 and CV = 0.31. Impedance values at APs were not

significantly less than at MPs or NPs. Impedance values at MPs were also

not significantly less than NPs, although their individual p values were <0.05

in 4 of 6 cases. There was a significant trend of increasing impedance with

repeated measurements with both the Prognos (p =0.003) and the PT Probe

(p= 0.003). Conclusions: Within the reliability limits of our study methods,

none of the three APs tested has lower skin impedance than at either of the

nearby control points. These results are not consistent with previous studies

that detected lower skin impedance at APs than nearby sites. Further study

is necessary to determine whether MPs have lower skin impedance than

nearby NPs. Our study suggests caution is warranted when developing,

using, and interpreting results from electrodermal screening devices. Further

studies are needed to clarify the clinically important and controversial

hypothesis that APs are sites of lower impedance. PMID: 17532733

[PubMed - in process]

 

Sch¨¹ller BK, Neugebauer EA. [Evidence for laser acupuncture in cases of

orthopedic diseases : A systematic review.][Article in German]. Schmerz.

2007 May 26; [Epub ahead of print]. Institut f¨¹r Forschung in der operativen

Medizin (IFOM), Fakult0S0t f¨¹r Medizin der Universit0S0t

Witten/Herdecke, Ostmerheimer Str. 200, 51109, K0<1ln, Deutschland,

sekretariat-neugebauer BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review is to evaluate the evidence for laser

acupuncture in selected orthopaedic diseases. MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Randomized controlled studies, meta-analyses and systematic reviews were

identified by a systematic search strategy in Medline and the Cochrane

library. The studies were evaluated using the quality criteria of the Oxford

Centre of Evidence Based Medicine. RESULTS: For the selected orthopedic

diseases (medial and lateral epicondylitis, myofascial pain syndrome of the

neck, back and shoulder and osteoarthritis), meta-analyses, systematic

reviews and eight randomized controlled studies were found. All other

published studies used laser therapy without consideration of classical

acupuncture points. All studies had significant drawbacks in methodological

quality and the number of patients included. In more recent trials,

improvement towards higher methodological quality was obvious. Although

current evidence is equivocal, positive effects can be assumed in myofascial

pain syndromes of the neck, back and shoulder. Laser acupuncture is

advantageous in terms of side effects compared to classical acupuncture

techniques. CONCLUSION: Better, well designed randomized studies with

higher power are mandatory in orthopedic diseases. PMID: 17530300

[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

 

Shi HF, Zheng XH. [Effect of scalp acupuncture drawing method on motor

function in hemiplegic patients following cerebral thrombosis at convalescent

period][Article in Chinese]. Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 2007

Apr;27(4):361-3. Dept of Rehabilitation, The First Affiliated Hospital of

Medical College of Zheijiang University, Hangzhou. OBJECTIVE: To

observe the effect of scalp-acupuncture drawing method (SADM) on

recovering motor function in hemiplegic patients following cerebral

thrombosis at convalescent period. METHODS: Adopting randomized,

single-blinded, controlled method, 93 hemiplegic patients following cerebral

thrombosis were randomly assigned to 3 groups, 31 in each group. All

patients received routine neurological therapy but those in the treated group

(SADM) and the control group I (SATM) also received SADM and scalp-

acupuncture twirling method (SATM), respectively; those in control group II

received no additional treatment. The treatment course for all was 4 weeks.

RESULTS: Before treatment, there were insignificant difference among 3

groups in the score of neural motor function deficits (NFDS) of limbs and

activity of daily life (ADL) score (P>.05). After being treated for 4 weeks, the

NFDS was significantly lower in control group II (P<.01, P<.05) and the

change of the scores in the treated group was more than that in the control

group I (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: SADM was superior to SATM to improve

the ADL score and motor function of hemiplegia patients following cerebral

thrombosis in the convalescent stage. PMID: 17526181 [PubMed - in

process]

 

Xie S, Liang J, Yan CY. [Therapeutic effects of acupoint drug-finger pressing

on gastroesophageal reflux][Article in Chinese]. Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie

He Za Zhi. 2007 Apr;27(4):355-8. Dept of Gastroenterology, Liuzhou

Hospital of Traditional , Guangxi. xsh6566

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effects and possible mechanism of

acupoint drug-finger pressing (ADFP) on gastroesophageal reflux (GER).

METHODS: 80 patients were randomly assigned to the treatment group and

the control group, 40 in each group. The treatment group was treated by

ADFP on Ganshu (BL18), Danshu (BL19), Weishu (BL21) and Pishu (BL20)

acupoint bilaterally with pressing and kneading maneuver for 15 min each

time, twice per day; the control group was treated with acid-inhibitory and

gastrokinetic drugs as omeprazole enteric-coated tablets (20mg at a 12-h

interval) and cisapride tablets (10 mg, thrice daily, taken 15 min before

meals). The treatment course for both was 3 weeks. RESULTS: The

symptom score and esophageal pressure obviously decreased (P<.05),

esophageal pressure was relieved remarkably (P<.05) in both groups after

treatment with insignificant difference between the groups (P>.05). The ratio

of 24-h esophageal reflux times and total reflux time, the times of reflux

lasting for more than 5 min and the maximum reflux time were all lowered

obviously in all patients after treatment, and the improvements was

significantly different between the two groups (P<.05). Upper gastrointestinal

endoscopy suggested obvious amelioration in esophagitis. The total

effective rate was 97.5% in the treatment group, significantly higher than that

in the control group (80.0%) (P<.05). No obvious adverse reaction was

found. CONCLUSION: Based on TCM, ADFP therapy is a new approach to

treat GER with prominent effects and less adverse reaction, and is easily be

accepted by patients. ADFP therapy deserves general use in payients with

GER. PMID: 17526179 [PubMed - in process]

 

Zhao HL, Gao X, Gao YB. [Clinical observation on effect of acupuncture in

treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy][Article in Chinese]. Zhongguo Zhong

Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 2007 Apr;27(4):312-4. Acupuncture and Massage

College of Beijing University of , Beijing.

dfyynfm OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture in

treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). METHODS: 60 patients with

DPN were randomly assigned to an acupuncture treated group and a control

group, 30 in each group. Besides basic treatment, patients were treated

additionally with acupuncture and oral administration of Methycobal

(Mecolbalamin) for 8 weeks respectively. Changes of symptoms, blood

glucose, HbA1c, whole blood and plasma viscosity, the nerve conduction

velocity (NCV) of sensory and motor nerves before and after treatment were

observed. RESULTS: Acupuncture ameliorated nervous system symptoms

and signs, decreased whole blood and plasma viscosity, and improved the

NCV of sensory and motor nerves in patients with DPN. CONCLUSION:

Acupuncture had a definite effect of in treating DPN. PMID: 17526168

[PubMed - in process]

 

Liu JP, Xia Y. [Quality appraisal of systematic reviews or meta-analysis on

traditional Chinese medicine published in Chinese journals][Article in

Chinese]. Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 2007 Apr;27(4):306-11.

Beijing University of , Beijing. jianping-l

OBJECTIVE: To critically assess the quality of literature about systematic

review or meta-analysis on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) published in

Chinese journals. METHODS: Electronic searches in CNKI, VIP and

Wanfang data-base were conducted to retrieve the systematic reviews or

meta-analysis reports on TCM, including herbal medicine, needling,

acupuncture and moxibustion, as well as integrative medicine, they were

identified and extracted according to the 18 items of QUOROM (quality of

reporting of meta-analyses) Statement and relative information. The

appraisal was made taking the indexes mainly including objectives, source

of data, methods of data extraction, quality assessment of the included

studies, measurement data synthesis, etc. RESULTS: Eighty-two systematic

reviews were identified, except 6 reviews were excluded for repeatedly

published or didn't comply with the enrolled criterion, 76 reviews concerning

51 kinds of diseases were enrolled for appraisal. Among them, 70 reviews

evaluated the efficacy of TCM, mainly on Chinese herbs and 9 on

acupuncture and moxibustion. In majority of the reviews, randomised

controlled trials were included and the data resources were described, but in

26 reviews only the Chinese databases were searched and the description

about data extraction and analysis method were too simple; and 70% of

reviews assessed the quality of the included studies; none used flow chart to

express the process of selection, inclusion and exclusion of studies.

CONCLUSIONS: Few reviews or Meta-analysis reports reached the

international standard and there is insufficient description of methodology for

conducting systematic reviews, so it is hardly to be repeated. The authors

suggested that advanced methodological training is necessary for reviewers.

PMID: 17526167 [PubMed - in process]

 

Best regards,